Cat Girl
Cat Girl: The Adventures of an Egyptian Demigod PROLOGUE July 7th, 1996 Archeologist Jason Thorn sat in his stateroom on the cruise ship Miranda, brow furrowed. His frusturated eyes stared down at his sketchpad. He'd been attemtping to draw an Eye of Horus, the ancient Egyptian symbol of wealth and royalty, but of no luck: The final product looked like the Rx you see on prescription bottles at the drugstore. Jason angrily crumpled it and strode out onto the deck. A Mediterranean breeze whipped his black hair. The sea view was beautiful, like turquoise. Easy, Thorn. ''He reminded himself. ''You're not here for pleasure. ''Indeed no. Jason was going to Egypt for yet another archelogical dig, in the Valley of Kings. His other one in mandarin China had been a huge success, and hopefully, so would this one although Jason had his doubts. The idea of poking around in underground, corpse-filled chambers made the archeologist a little uncertain about what was in store for him. Jason trotted over to one of the three plastic deck chairs on the front deck and prepared for a lazy afternoon. Until ''she ''showed up. A somewhat tall woman with wavy strawberry blond hair sometime in her thirties was leaning on the deck rail, gazing out into the sunset, clad in a tan peasant blouse and torn jeans that would have looked bizarre on anyone else. Sexy was the right word for her. "So. This your first trip around the 'Terranean?" She asked, settling down in the chair next to him. Mutely, Jason nodded. "Yeah." "Not here for the tourism, though." He quickly added. The woman laughed. "Seems like no one these days is." She sighed. "Egypt has just plain gotten lost in the shuffle. So who are you?" He held out a hand. "Jason Thorn." The woman raised her eyebrows. "''The ''Jason Thorn, the archelogist?!" He smiled wryly. "Who'd you think it was, Bill Clinton?" This last remark caused both of them to laugh. "And who are you?" He asked, feeling curious. "Matthews. Bast Matthews." Her last name was said in hesitation, as though she didn't actually know her last name. This was the beginning of a brief but sweet relationship. Bast and Jason continued to see each other over the next two weeks of the voyage. After they docked in Cairo, Jason wanted to keep in touch with her via E-mail and over the phone, so they did, even arranging to see one another on Saturdays, when Jason was free. By October Jason found out that Bast was pregnant, and by that time he had plans to marry her. They became engaged, but the wedding never happened. Two weeks after their daughter, Hatshepsut (Hattie) was born, Bast disappeared, as though off the face of the earth, leaving Jason with a daughter to raise. The only thing of Bast that Jason had left was an earring, the gold earring she always wore. Later it would become Hattie's. After Bast left, Jason and Hattie went back to Jason's hometown of New York City. Jason had always known there was something unnatural about Bast, something profoundly different. He would not know for nine more years that he'd fallen in love with a goddess. A real and actual Egyptian goddess. Chapter One: The Outer Limits September 8th, 2000 I had my first encounter with the supernatural when I was barely four, but I remember the INCIDENT well enough. It was a blustery fall day. I sat on the stone steps of the Eleanor Roosevelt nursery school, my skinny legs dangled over the steps; my feet clad in pink-and-white Velcro shoes. I began to suck on my pinky, an annoying habit I’d have until I was six, until my Dad got out of the car at the nearby parking lot and went to me. “How’d it go, Sport?” He asked, taking my hand and leading me away from the school. “Okay.” I replied, drying my pinkie on my shorts. That first day of school really hadn’t been okay. To tell the truth it was…. Strange. Most of the time I’d sat in the back corner of the classroom, playing with plastic blocks and reading board books. I’d felt different, alienated from all the other kids, like I was different from them somehow. I never mentioned it to anyone all day. The next thing I remember was Dad leading me to the car and buckling me in. He started the car and we drove off. They say that anything can happen in New York City, and I knew from that day forward that it was true. Because somewhere, out of nowhere, I saw ''something. Something in my peripheral vision, something I could barely see but knew with a sixth sense that it was there. From the window of the car, bounding towards me at an impossible speed was a lion. An African lion. I’d screamed and cried and my Dad had no way of comforting me, because he didn’t know what was wrong. I had no idea what words to use with my then-limited vocabulary. When I looked again, barely two minutes later, the lion was gone as though it had never been there. But I knew with a grim certainty that it had been. It wanted me. Chapter Two: Not Normal December 16th, 2006 From that day foward I began to have what the psychiatrists and doctors called the 'hallucinations' but I knew better. Up until I was seven years old, Dad began dragging me to every psychiatric hospital and clinic in the state, hoping someone, anyone ''knew what was wrong with me. And that was the problem. As far as anyone could see, there wasn't actually anything 'wrong' with me. I just saw strange things and that was that. But as I grew older, the danger increased. I wasn't always as lucky as I had been that fall day back in 2000. I continually felt like I was being watched at all times, by some unrealistic presence. Things pretty much went to hell that day in third grade at PS 75. It was about a week before school let out for Christmas vacation and we'd already gotten a snow day on Wednesday. My class was restless and eager to start vacation. "All right. Who can tell me where Sudan is located?" My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Wheatley asked. My hand shot up. "Yes, Hattie?" I was just about to say the answer when, suddenly, my mouth went dry and cold sweat trickled down my back. A strange creature with a reptillian face and the mane of a lion was gazing out at me from the window. "M-monster...." I whispered. "What, Hattie? Please speak up." "There's a monster at the window." I managed to get out. A few boys ran to the window, but by then it was gone. The only trace that it had been there were strange, deep claw marks left on the window. Nobody seemed to know what had caused them. The next day, everyone had no memory of the monster incident except me. Even when I asked Josh, one of the boys who'd gone to the window what had happened, he'd only shrugged and said "What? I never went to the window at all yesterday. What're you talking about, Hattie?" The answer was the same from Bobby and Ray, the other two boys who'd ran over to the window. I was beginning to feel uneasy. Everyone had forgotten about the incident yesterday. Except me. Did that mean that the monsters I saw were fake, and they only existed in my head? ''No.... ''I'd told myself. ''That doesn't make sense. The claw-marks are still there..... I decided not to tell a soul about exactly what I'd seen that day. Under the circumstances, it seemed better not to. There was only one student I held in high suspiction: Zane Travers. I'd always felt.... Odd around him, like he knew something I didn't. Zane's hair was black with an odd, bluish tint, and he had brown eyes that reminded me of a not-very-friendly dog. "Did you see a monster yesterday?" I asked him honestly at lunch that next day. Zane seemed nervous and edgy on the subject. "M-me, no. I... I don't know what you're talking about!" But I knew from that nervous, frightened way he was talking in that he was lying. "Liar!" "I'm not lying!" He protested. Zane grabbed up his X-Men lunch box and strutted off to the back table. And as Zane walked, I thought I caught a glimpse of dark blue behind his skin. Weird. ''I'd thought at the time. I know better now. At home, my Dad had just gotten e-mailed about a lecturing opprotunity at the University of New Haven in Connecticut, about the elusive Torosaurus, a rare dinosaur that strongly resembled a triceratops. Dad barely paid any attention to the e-mail. His eyes were fixed instead on a letter he'd gotten in the mail. It was postmarked Johannesburg, South Africa. The paper appeared to be papyrus. The letter itself was written in spidery, flowing script: ''Jason; I'm sorry things got out of hand. I'm even more sorry I never had time to tell you.... What I am. What Hattie is. I can't tell you now, but believe me I will. I'm time-pressed under the current circumstances, so I can't say much else. Your beloved, Bast. ''He never did get the next letter. It was me who did. Chapter Three: The Danger Rises May 2nd, 2008 It was May 2nd. Exactly one month from my eleventh birthday. It was the end of an ordinary school day. I sat on my leather bus-seat, Zane in the seat behind me. I'd been unlucky enough to have him on my bus route that year. "OSIRIS HELP US!!!" He suddenly cried as the bus swerved. The bus driver had crashed into something, of what I couldn't make out. I think it was a fire hydrant, or maybe something more. Every single student on that bus had been killed except Zane and me. Us, miraculously had made it through without a scratch. Dad insisted on driving me for the month-and-a-half left of the school year. From then one, my sense of not-belonging was even more profound then ever. Chapter Four: A time of Grief December 6th, 2009 It was a freezing early December day, and I was twelve years old. Dad insisted on driving me home from school. The snow was falling down, and I sat in the back seat, listening to my IPod touch. Faint strains of Avril Lavigne's ''Girlfriend ''drifted into the back seat. "Crap...." I muttered as my IPod died. "Now Hattie..." Dad warned. "Sorry..." He cursed under his breath as snow began to fall steadily down on the windshields. "What the hell?!" It all happened so fast.... In blurred motions, Dad swerved and tried to slam on the brakes, but it was too late. I screamed and would have fallen and crashed into the windshield if I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt. A little of the snow had fallen off the shattered windshield in the collision, and now I was able to see we'd collided with an '07 Mini Cooper, the passengers of whom had made it out okay, and were now dialing 911. My dad however, wasn't so lucky. I stood beside the wreckage of the car, wearing just my jeans and a thin parka, shivering. I could see my own breath. I could hear sirens, and in a few minutes both me and the car were bathed in red shadows. About twenty minutes later I sat in the ER waiting room, waiting for the doctor (I forgot his name) to come out and tell me what I already knew: that my Dad was dead; killed the instant of the collision. But still, it was crushing to have that confirmed, to hear the voice of a total stranger say: ''I'm sorry, Miss, but you're father is dead. ''Even after that arrangement had been made, I continued to sit in the waiting room, too dumbstruck with grief to do much. I wanted to go home, but a twelve-year-old kid hailing a cab would look suspicious, so I stayed put. I spent my time doodling in my sketchpad, trying to look away from whatever horrors the paramedics brought in off the street. Strangely, the only thing I could seem to draw was a cat, a cat wearing the tarnished gold earring that used to belong to my mom. As my father was an only child, and his parents died when I was little, and I knew nothing of my mother's family, I was made a ward of the state and sent off to an orphanage on the lower east side. It was a bleak place; kids went and came back from foster homes, and a lucky few even got adopted but not me. Who would want the scruffy, brown-haired girl who saw things that supposedly weren't really there?? Two months after the accident, the snow was falling down as I lay in the dorm room I shared with several other girls. Half-asleep, I was roused by the sound of the door being eased open. I sat up in the dark. Coming in from the lighted hallway, was a cat. In the shadows, I could just determine that it was female, and a goldish-brown color, like my hair. It wore a black collar with a strange symbol dangling from it. My brow furrowed. None of the other girls seemed to be bothered by the sound of the door opening. They were all asleep; it was as though they couldn't hear it. The cat trotted over to my bed and sat down on the floor, green eyes staring at me curiously. We stared at each other for a long time until something impossible happened: the cat opened her tiny mouth and spoke! "Hattie!" She purred. Her voice was smooth, lustrous. I sat in bed, uncomprehending. The cat only laughed, a strange sound halfway between a purr and a growl. "Well? What kind of a way is THAT to greet your mother?" Again I said nothing. The cat, apparently my mother sighed. "So you didn't get the letter I sent you? I knew I could never trust UPS to deliver it to the right address...." I remained silent. "Oh don't look so solemn, dear. I just heard about what happened to your father. I can't bear it either." I mustered the courage to speak "What...? How can you?!" My mother gave me a warm look. "Well, my dear Hatshepsut I'm a goddess." She began to pace the floor. "Have you ever felt different from all the other children at school?" "Y-yes..." "And have you been stalked by monsters that everyone says don't exist." "That too." "And have you always felt a special bond with animals, namely, cats?" "Yes!" My mom stopped pacing. "And that means, Hattie, that you are a demigod." My eyes widened. "A ''what?" "I see I've got my work cut out with you. A DEMIGOD, a child of a mortal and a god, any god." Then she added "Zane has kept me up-to-date on you." ZANE?!! Now things were REALLY getting out-of-hand! "Zane," I spluttered. "As in....?" "Zane Travers. The very one. He's a school jackal, aged thirteen. School jackals are jackals we have in schools to watch out for possible demigods; just like the Greek ''gods have satyrs." She extended a paw in a shockingly humanlike gesture. "Hattie, I can't stand to see you in this place. If, by any chance you'd like to go to Egypt Zane will provide for you." ''Oh god, no....If I'm going to Egypt, does it have to be with '''ZANE?! 'I thought. Moaning, I swung my legs over the side of the bed so that they touched the floor. "And my name is Bast, by the way. Terribly sorry I didn't tell you earlier." Bast, my mother was now rubbing against my legs, purring. As though reading my thoughts, Bast said "Because you're new to all this, this means I've claimed you as my daughter." I cast a wary eye towards the other girls. "But how come they don't... Hear us?" Bast rolled her eyes. "That's because I've placed a ''mist ''over them, like I did back when you were nine. They don't hear or understand a thing." I felt like I had to ask this now: "Do I have to go to Egypt?" I asked, uncertain at my situation. "Of course not! It's all up to you!" Bast then lowered her voice confidentially "But it'd be better if you went, Hattie. It will take the monsters a while to understand where you've gone and will give you a head start." I clenched my teeth determidely. "I'm going." I said. "Good. I'll contact Zane and he'll meet you at JFK tomorrow. Don't worry about the mortals. Later tonight I'll place a mist over everyone in this building. It'll be like you were never here." And with those last words, Bast disappeared as though SHE'D never been there. Chapter Five: Don't Fence me in! 2010 Things pretty much went downhill from there. Zane, as I found out soon enough could transform into whatever animal he pleased, and told lots of stories about the Egyptian gods. "...And that was how Horus got the throne back. He and Horus still hate each other to this day." He paused as we neared the gate of the airport. "Oh. Right. I'm a chihuahua, I'm supposed to shut up." Zane yipped to signify this. "Come on," I muttered impatiently. Zane had since chosen to transform into a chihuahua because they looked 'more American and less suspicious' as he'd put it. He'd also teleported a ticket for me. "Get in." From my re-usable shopping bag I produced an old dog crate that used to belong to my dog Rusty, a Yorkie, who died when I was nine. Zane looked horrified as I opened the wire-mesh door. "It's the law." I said, jerking my thumb towards a white sign that said ALL ANIMALS ON FLIGHT MUST BE CAGED AT ALL TIMES. "Oh come on!" Zane protested as I yanked his golden collar and shoved him roughly into the carrier. "Don't fence me in!" He protested as I slammed the door shut in his face. I sighed. This was going to be a long flight. And it was. I spent my time reading ''Jurassic Park ''(My Dad's favorite book) and trying to ignore Zane singing bad parodies of Lady Gaga songs. To everyone else it sounded like strange yipping. At nine o' clock the next day I was abrutly woken, finally hearing what I wanted to: "Attention, passengers of flight 98017; we are landing in Cairo. You may disembark in a moment." I found out soon enough that the Cairo airport was NOTHING like JFK. It'd be a stretch to call it a real airport at all. It was basically just a terminal with a few rickety old biplanes parked out back. Really, it was only there so tourists could get in and out. And another thing I learned: Egypt is still hot, even in the middle of winter. I quietly and discretely unzipped my coat and tied it around my waist. "Let me go...." Zane was whimpering in his cage. "In a sec," I whispered. "Wait till I get inside, to the women's bathroom." "WOMEN'S?!" He protested. "Aw come on, can't a guy transform in privacy." I sighed, losing my patience with Zane's whining. "It's a compromise." I admitted. "And besides, you'll be out of this dog crate soon enough." Zane did a little yip of happiness as my sneakered feet slapped on the pavement towards the tourist center. "Oh, that feels good!" Zane whispered as he transformed in the empty bathroom. I watched curiously as his tiny legs became large, his snout elongated, his ears became more pricked and his tail became long and whiplike. Finally, his tan fur became a dark blue-black color. Zane sighed with pleasure and shook himself. "All right. Let's go." "So where exactly are we going?" I asked Zane as we left the airport. Zane shrugged, as much as his jackal shoulders would allow. "Camp Scarab." He replied a matter-of-factly. "The Greeks have Camp Half-Blood; we've got Camp Scarab." I couldn't help but ntoe that the word 'Greeks' was said in revulsion. "So... What've you got against the Greeks?" I quipped. "Do you guys like, not like them or something?" Zane sighed. "I see I've got my work cut out for me." He said. "Well you see, we do hate each other and we have for a good 1,000 years, if not more or less. You see, it all started when King Ptolemy, a Greek rose to the throne as Pharoah and started a new era. At the time we hadn't had one for years. Now us, I mean, the gods weren't willing to let a Greek become Pharoah without a fight. So we Egyptian gods and the Greek gods had quite a battle about how the new dynasty was to be run, and as always, the Greeks won." Zane sounded wistful. "Really, they always do. They were more advanced then us." I stopped. "How do you know all this?" Zane stopped walking too. "Oh." He said like it was nothing. "Sobek tells me." "Who?" Zane resumed walking, and so did I. "SOBEK." He said the name in a slow way, like I didn't understand it. "The god of crocodiles. He was made director of Camp Scarab for a thousand years as punishment for inciting rebellion. He's not so bad, but his little friend sure is." "So Sobek's got a pet?" "Yah. I'll show you when we get there." I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as Zane led me out of the airport. Chapter Six: The Petting Zoo (NOT!) After an hour of following Zane through Cairo, we arrived at the desert surrounding it. "Where's Camp Scarab??" I asked, looking around. "UP THERE!" Zane screamed above the roaring wind. "WHAT?!" "I SAID 'UP THERE!!!!'" "OH!" I looked up onto a nearby cliff, making out the faint shape of several buildings in the distance. "I'll teleport us." Zane said when the wind died down. Seconds later we stood on the cliff. "Well that was easy!" I snorted. Zane gave me a look. "Now. Sobek is gonna want to meet you, or rather you meet him. Come on. His place's that way." Zane led me towards a small sheltered canopy in front of a nearby cave. He led me under the fabric awning and into the cave. It was sparsely furnished with only rocks, fungus and a few Stephen King novels on a makeshift shelf. "Sobek!" Zane yelled, his voice echoing around the rock walls. "The new demigod is here!" "Oh, the cat girl, eh?" I was not prepared for what happened next: A man who appeared to have the head and upper body of a crocodile came out into the light. He was walking a strange creature on a leash. "Ammit the devourer." Zane explained as they got closer. "Wow... He's uh.... Cute." Impulsively, I reached my hand out, but Zane swatted my hand down. "Don't!" He snarled. "Ammit bites." He hesitated before speaking. "He loves milk-bones though." As he spoke, Ammit panted like a puppy and looked at me with beady eyes. "So." Sobek said, settling down on a rock. "So you're Jason Thorn's daughter?" I nodded. Sobek laughed, a strange, husky sound. "Never thought there'd be an archelogist who'd fall in love with a god." He sighed. "We have our moments. Zane, maybe you could show her around." Zane nodded. "Yes sir." We exited the cave. Right after we did though, Ammit followed us. "Can I come?" His voice was full of little-kid excitement. Zane shook his head. "Uh-uh. Not after what happened with Bes's demigods last year. You can't be trusted on the grounds." "Aw come on!" Ammit protested. "I mean, I don't bite as much." "Yeah well you still bite. Now go back to your master." Ammit groaned but went back to Sobek. "This place isn't as big as Camp Half-Blood." Zane explained as he took me around camp. "But it's still something." He stabbed a claw at a decaying stone structure. "That's the stables. That's where we house the horses for chariot races." "Chariots?" My brow furrowed. "You hate the Greeks. I thought chariots were a Greek thing." Zane sighed impatiently. "They got it from us. You can see a picture of a chariot race in Tut's tomb." He pointed towards several huts "And those are the cabins; they're all named after a god: Bes, Anubis, Horus, Isis, Osiris, Set, and..... Bast. Some are always empty though, like Horus and Osiris. They both took a swear to never have children, so yeah. They've got no demigods. And then there's Set. What an outlaw. He still has a few kids wandering around somewhere, like Lapis Fox. She's pure evil." He wrinkled his muzzle. "You don't want to know about Lapis." Zane whispered. "She's a master of dark magic. Or was. She's in exile from this camp because she was too powerful." He shivered. "Now come on. Since you're Bast's demigod you go.... Over there." He pointed towards Bast's cabin in the distance. Oh joy. I was finally going to meet my half-siblings. "All right guys!" Zane exclaimed, pushing the door open to the Bast cabin. "This is the new demigod." The Bast cabin wasn't as packed as I expected it to be; there were only six or seven kids there, only two of whom stood out to me: Ellis Marley and Zack Ambrose. Ellis was a girl of about thirteen or fourteen, and she had wavy blond hair that she wore in a ponytail, and she was wearing a blue t-shirt that said: CAMP SCARAB CHARIOT RACE- 2006 on it. "You've been here since 2006?!" I blurted, not controlling myself. I clamped a hand over my mouth. "I'm sorry!" I squealed. Ellis shrugged like it didn't bother her. "That's okay." She said. "I'm one of those kids who have issues with monsters." I spent the next half-hour talking with Ellis. Zack stayed away from me like I had a contagious disease. I eventually found out that Ellis had been named after the poet, Emily Bronte (Pen name: Ellis Bell) who was also famous for her book ''Wuthering Heights, which I'd heard of but never read. After a half an hour of chatting, Ellis brushed herself off. "I'd better be going. Time for lunch." "Lunch?" I scrambled up. "Thank the gods. I'm starving." Ellis smiled and disappeared and I struggled to catch up with her. Lunch was eaten a few feet over the cliff, so close that you could see the ground. Me and the other demigods ate a hard bread,and a kind of spread called hummus and Zane prowled around looking for handouts, being a jackal. I saw him sneaking a few wary glances at Todd, a boy from Thoth's cabin. Todd was, if anything emo all the way: He was dressed in a black Iron Maiden t-shirt, and black jeans. His hair was dark brown with red highlights, and one ear was pierced, like mine. Even though Todd and I sat next to each other; neither of us spoke. I think things may have been better that way. Every so often, Todd would exchange a quiet snicker with Zack, who sat on his left. Those two were definitely up to something. "No, you're doing it the wrong way." After lunch, Ellis was trying to teach me to write my name in Egyptian. "I just can't draw the symbls right!" I protested, throwing down my pencil. Ellis smiled wryly. "That's okay. When I first came here I couldn't get it right either." And this was coming from the girl who'd been here from 2006. I glanced haphazardly over at the other campers. They were pretty much loitering around; chatting about small things. The atmosphere changed when Sobek came out of his cave and onto the cliff ledge, Ammit at his heels. "Attention, demigods!" His voice rang out like a butcher knife being dragged over a rock. "Pick a partner, anyone. It is time for the annual Camp Sarab chariot races!" Everyone made a mad dash for the stables. Only Zane and I remained. I gave him a wary look. "We're in this together." He said, trotting off towards the stables. I followed Zane reluctantly, trying to ignore the strange darkening in the clouds and the rumbling thunder in the distance..... Chapter Seven: The Race Thirty minutes passed, and the horses were already harnessed to everyone's chariots. I can only imagine how weird we must've looked; a bunch of kids in modern clothes, driving ancient Egyptian chariots. Ellis's chariot was next to mine. Todd was with her. "May the best demigod win." He said. Ellis said nothing, but I noticed she had a rebellious grin on her face. Ammit sat well beyond the starting line (Really just a line in the dirt drawn by Sobek.) "Ready....." He said after a few minutes. "Get set.... GO!!!!!!!" The horses galloped out of the starting point so fast I didn't know what was happening. "Go!" Zane hissed, and then muttered to himself "Oh gods why do I always get stuck with the newbie?!" Uncertain, I picked the reins up and slapped them on the horse's back. It whinnied and took off a running start. After that, I unexpectedly rose to the head of the pack slowly but surely. Ellis and Todd were who I was worried about. They were the perfect team; with Ellis's brainpower and Todd's amazing sense of direction. I urged my horse on, but Todd and Ellis shot ahead. "See you at the finish line, newbie!" Todd laughed, galloping off. "Zane." I pleaded. "What do I do?!" Zane sighed impatiently. "Don't go any faster." He whispered. "Jump." JUMP!?! I reluctantly did as Zane advised me; had the horse make a fantastic flying leap. We sailed over the finish line less than a second before Todd and Ellis did. "Amazing," Todd was saying. "How did you do that." "Not bad for a newbie, eh?" Ellis grinned. "I told you she's good." Todd grunted and walked off. "Show off," He muttered. I glanced over at Zane. "You know," He was saying. "You better give me some credit for that. If it weren't for me you probably wouldn't have won. I've never seen such a clever win since Lapis Fox was here. Next year, I hope you remember that." "Next year?" "Yeah." Zane said. "Some kids stay hear year-round." The more I thought about it; the more it made sense. Ellis was an obvious year-rounder because, like me, she was a very special target for monsters. They just wouldn't let go of either of us. The idea of spending my summers in Egypt didn't appeal to me, but there were air conditioners in the cabins so we at least had that. "Zane!" I yelled as he disappeared towards Sobek's cave. "Yah?" "I was wondering." I approached him slowly. "Do you think you could tell me more about Lapis Fox?" Zane sighed, then looked both ways to make sure no one was looking. "Well....." He said. "Yes and no. I'll tell you, but in the oasis. We're not supposed to talk about her in the camp." "Why?" "I'll get to that soon enough!" He hissed, and I followed Zane towards the oasis outside camp. 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